The present invention relates to an improved resealable folded label structure whereby the subject label embodies a capability for withstanding delamination damage which would normally otherwise be consequent from a user attempting to open the label from the wrong side.
With an advent of more stringent instructional and directional use requirements as regards various consumer products, exemplary of which would be a broad spectrum ranging from over-the-counter health substances to small household appliances and power tools, there has become an increasing need to provide extended text direction and use labels that attach either directly to the product, or in the case of pills or the like directly to the product container. And, because of size constraints, in balancing the required extended text label content with that of the container application space available, the so-called folded label came into popular use whereby the label structure is one that is compacted by folding and can be opened to reveal a series of panels or pages containing the directions or use information. It then became necessary to provide a protective package for the folded label so that the direction and use information contained thereon would remain affixed to the product or product container and be available for consumer reference throughout the useful life thereof, thus evolved the resealable folded label provided with a protective overlaminate film and some sort of a release and resealing tab.
Exemplary of typical resealable folded label structures shown by the prior art are those as respectively taught by Howard in U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,582 dated Aug. 13, 1985, which discloses a mechanical tounge-and-slit resealing means, and those of Instance in U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,972 dated Feb 23, 1988, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,161 dated May 17, 1988, which disclose different versions of an over-lapping releasably adhered resealing arrangement.
Exemplary of typical protective overlaminate film folded and resealable labels are those as shown by the various embodiments as taught by Mack in U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,837 dated Nov. 11, 1986, and that as taught by Instance in U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,591 dated May 17, 1988.
As is evident from an inspection of the foregoing resealable folded label structures, as well as would also be evident from an inspection of other resealable folded label structures of similar types, being typically exemplary of those which are currently available, it is possible for a consumer, as frequently occurrs, on first instance to inadvertently attempt to open the sealed folded label from the wrong side and thereby cause delamination damage to the label in such a way that it will not mechanically survive and meet the use and directional purposes for which it was intended to serve throughout the duration of the life of the packaged product to which it is applied.
The applicant's improved resealable folded label structure mechanically provides a built-in differential ease of opening capability structurally within the label profile which discourages user opening on the wrong side thereof and enhances user opening of the label on the proper side thereby substantially reducing the likelihood of the otherwise normally consequent delamination damage resultant therefrom through the new and novel technique of employing a graduated thickness of adhesive film upon the protective overlaminate label structure layer in a manner hereinafter more fully detailed and described.